A creamy Polish vegetable salad of diced boiled root vegetables, potato, peas, pickles, and hard-boiled egg bound in mayonnaise and mustard. It is a fixture at every holiday table, name day, and family gathering. Best made ahead so the flavors meld in the fridge.
Poland's vegetable salad — diced boiled root vegetables, egg and pickle bound in mayonnaise, a close cousin of the Russian 'Olivier'. No Polish Christmas, Easter or name-day table is complete without a bowl of it.
Cool, creamy, and studded with soft little cubes of sweet carrot, earthy celeriac, and tangy pickle. The mayonnaise binds it into something rich yet bright, with the egg adding gentle savoriness. Every Polish holiday tastes a little like this.
Boiling softens the dense root vegetables to a uniform, tender bite, and dicing them evenly lets the mayonnaise coat every piece. Chilling time allows the pickle acidity and mustard to permeate and balance the rich dressing.
Variations
Sałatka jarzynowa with apple, versions with peas and corn, sałatka warzywna, lighter yogurt-mayonnaise dressings
On the Palate
Where Sałatka Jarzynowa sits in the Polish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min
- 125 min
Boil the carrots, parsley root, celeriac, and potatoes until tender.
Watch outBoil each root just to fork-tender, no further — mushy vegetables collapse into paste when you fold in the mayo.
- 210 min
Cool the vegetables completely, then peel and dice them small.
Watch outLet them go stone-cold before dicing — warm vegetables sweat and turn the salad watery and the dressing thin.
- 38 min
Hard-boil the eggs, cool, and chop into small pieces.
- 45 min
Dice the pickles and finely chop a little onion.
- 54 min
Combine all the diced ingredients with the peas in a large bowl.
- 64 min
Fold in mayonnaise and mustard, then season with salt and pepper.
- 760 min
Chill for at least an hour so the flavors meld.
Watch outGive it a full hour in the fridge — the pickle tang and mustard need that time to work through the rich dressing.
- 83 min
Serve cold as a starter or side, garnished with herbs.
